These days it is very difficult to find much that is positive to say about the pound. Yesterday’s MPC Minutes put the knife a little deeper into the British economy, with a number of MPC members expressing fears that an increase in the policy rate now “could adversely affect consumer confidence”. Furthermore, there were still fears over the downside risks to household spending. The labour market data released at the same time as the MPC minutes showed a fairly lacklustre picture. For the third time in four months, the claimant count measure of unemployment increased in April. Just as worrying, underlying average ... (full story)